The Irish government's statement that it will not sell its controlling stake in the airline reduces Ryanair's chances of succeeding - the competition authorities will surely take a hard look at it too - and it leaves questions over Mr O'Leary's judgment. Not only does he appear to have misread the Irish government's intentions on Aer Lingus - was it ever going to allow the creation of an Irish super airline? - but he also seems willing to turn Ryanair's business model on its head and embrace the high-cost world of long-haul aviation.

From food to in-flight entertainment and much longer turnaround times, long-haul operations are the antithesis of Ryanair's lean-and-mean way of doing business. At £1bn, Aer Lingus is a big chunk to swallow and fitting it into Ryanair's low-cost template would be a time-consuming process.

Perhaps the temptation of owning a unified Irish airline giant was too great to ignore, but Mr O'Leary looks more hubristic than opportunistic this morning.